Apr 17 The Health Benefits of Vitamin B9 (Folic Acid)

Let’s take a few minutes to talk about the health benefits of Folic Acid (Folate, Vitamin B9). Like all B vitamins, folate plays a role in metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. More specifically, it plays a direct role in nerve and brain function. It aids in the production of genetic material, specifically DNA and RNA, and is critical during periods of rapid growth and cell turnover such as pregnancy, infancy and childhood. Folic acid is also a cofactor for red blood cell production and helps moderate homocysteine.

This is probably the most well known reason to supplement folate. All pregnant women should be on prenatal vitamins which includes a hefty dose of folic acid. This significantly reduces the risk of birth defects, especially to the brain and spinal cord. The recommended dose for pregnant women is 600 mcg/day.

Heart disease

May directly reduce your risk of coronary artery disease and heart attack (weak evidence). Known to modulate homocysteine levels which have been shown to increase your risk of heart attack and stroke, however supplementing with B vitamins (including folate) has not yet been shown to reduce risk

Dementia, cognitive function and Alzheimer’s disease

Similar to heart disease, elevated homocysteine has been shown to increase the risk of dementia, alzheimer’s disease and decline in cognitive function. Whether supplementing folic acid to lower homocysteine levels can help reduce these risks is not well understood.

Age related Hearing loss

May help, research and data is unclear.

Depression

Folks with low levels of folate are more likely to have depression, however studies using folate as a supplement to treat depression have produced mixed results.

Cancer

Low folate levels are associated with increased risk of cancer of the colon, breast, cervical, pancreatic, and stomach. May also protect against acute lymphocytic leukemia.